Trying to explain the difference between true wind and apparent wind is something that nobody has every mastered. Its just one of those subjects that is near impossible to explain no matter how long you try to do it. Well, here is my attempt at being one of those people but with a curve at the end, a visual from NauticEd.
True wind is exactly as it sounds, its the true angle and true speed of the wind. The speed that you see on the wind dial is the speed that the wind is going and the direction on the indicator is the direction that its coming from, as long as you are sitting still that is.
The sitting still part is where the difference between the two is. The visual that I will link to below is using a car as an example. If the car is sitting still, you are just feeling the wind that is blowing. If the car is moving, you are feeling both the true and apparent wind. Can you see where the apparent wind comes in? It's the wind that is created as you are moving through the air.
If you think about it, as a car beings to move faster, you will feel the air pushing against your had as you move forward. As you move forward, you will also feel the wind direction change, as in coming from directly in front of you.
I think that I have confused you enough. Click here to see the interactive visual that was created by NauticEd.
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